Here you will find data and primary source documents on the history of gun control legislation in Massachusetts, and what its effects have been on public safety and the rights of law-abiding citizens to own a firearm.

These charts
reflect a brief history of the License to Carry Firearms and the
Firearms Identification Card.
For instance, there are many amendments that were made to the
LTC that will take some research to
discover their effects. In the future, we hope to be able to
provide a more detailed description of the
changes made throughout the history of the Massachusetts
licensing system.

History of the License to Carry Firearms (LTC)

1906

The license was apparently created by
Chapter 172 of the Acts of 1906.

1911

Chapter 548
(Unknown)

1919

Chapter 207
(Unknown)

1922

Chapter 485
(Unknown)

1925

Chapter 284
(Unknown)

1927

Chapter 326
(Unknown)

1936

Chapter 302
(Unknown)

1951

Chapter 201 of the Acts of 1951 added
language that seems to have given control of the
licensing to the local chief or local licensing
authority.

1953

Chapter 319 of the Acts of 1953
deleted the reference to trial justices.

1953

Chapter 454 of the
Acts of 1953 (Unknown)

1957

Chapter 688 of the Acts of 1957
rewrote the section covering the LTC.

1959

Chapter 296 of the Acts of 1959
inserted the words "possession" and "narcotic or
harmful" in the first sentence.

1960

Chapter 293 of the
Acts of 1960 (Unknown)

1969

Chapter 799 of the Acts of 1969
rewrote the language to prohibit minors from being
able to acquire a machine gun license.

1972

Chapter 415 of the Acts of 1972
changed the term of a license and increased the fees
from $2 to $10.

1973

Chapter 138 of the Acts of 1973
increased penalties for illegally issuing a license.

1973

Chapter 892 of the Acts of 1973 added
language that required licensed persons to give
notification of a change of address.

1974

Chapter 312 of the Acts of 1974
changed language to provide for a five year machine
gun license.

1974

Chapter 649 of the Acts of 1974 added
language to provide a 90 day grace period after the
expiration of the license.

1975

Chapter 4 of the Acts of 1975 delayed
the effective date of Chapter 649 of the Acts of
1974 until April 1, 1975.

Chapter 420 of the Acts of 1984
inserted in the first sentence "whose license to
carry firearms may only be issued under the
provisions of section one hundred and thirty-one F"
following the words "except an alien".

1986

Chapter 481 of the Acts of 1986
rewrote the entire section covering the LTC. This
Act extended background checks and notification of
address changes, etc.

1987

Chapter 465 of the Acts of 1987 made
a minor change by inserting the word "than".

Chapter 151 of the Acts of 1996 made
changes to the law where it refer to the
"commissioner of public safety", "colonel of the
state police" or "executive director of the criminal
history systems board".

1996

Chapter 200 of the Acts of 1996 added
"youthful offender language".

1998

Chapter 180 of the Acts of 1998
completely rewrote the section covering the LTC.

1998

Chapter 358 of the Acts of 1998 made
changes to paragraphs (d), (j), (m), (o)

History of the FID Card

1968

This was the year that the FID
card law was created by Chapter 737 of the Acts of
1968. It took effect on January 1, 1969.

1969

Chapter 799 of the Acts of
1969 rewrote the FID section to make many
clarifications.

1971

Chapter 225 of the Acts of
1971 rewrote part of the law to allow the licensing
authority to conduct a mental health background
check only when the authority doubted the
applicant's response to the question of past
hospitalization or mental illness.

1972

Chapter 312 of the Acts of
1972 deleted the words "a state prison or
penitentiary" from the first paragraph and inserted
the word "confinement". It also added "or is (f) an
alien" to the language. It made FID Cards valid
until revoked or suspended and added the requirement
of a Card holder to give notification of change of
address.

1976

Chapter 239 of the Acts of
1976 added the provision for residents of federal
installations to be issued an FID.

1989

Chapter 339 of the Acts of
1989 substituted in the fourth sentence of the fifth
paragraph, the word "thirty" for the word "ten"

1994

Chapter 24 of the Acts of 1994 added clause (g) in
the first paragraph which created a disqualifier for
anyone that was subject to a "209A" (restraining
order). It also added similar language to the
second paragraph under "setting other conditions."

1996

Chapter 151 & 200
of the Acts of 1996 changed the language to remove
the word "commissioner" where relevant and insert
the words "executive director of the criminal
history systems board". The second bill inserted
clause (h).